Written Answers Wednesday 3 May 2006

Scottish Executive

Charities

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has concerns about any confusion that may arise for Scottish donors to English-based charities which use the term "UK" to describe themselves despite having no base in Scotland or locus in Scotland and, if so, what discussions it has had with HM Treasury about this matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 addresses this issue.

  If the body is registered as a charity in Scotland and entered on the Scottish Charity Register the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator is able to require it to change its name under section 10 of the act if the name is felt to be misleading to the public as to the true nature of the purposes or activities of the body.

  If the body is not registered as a charity in Scotland, but recognised as a charity under another jurisdiction, such as the Charity Commission for England and Wales, it is required to state that it is a charity registered elsewhere under section 14 of the act. Therefore, an English based charity which fundraises in Scotland is required to state that it is a charity registered in England and Wales and is unable to refer to itself as a Scottish charity.

Dentistry

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered recruiting dentists from Canada to work in the National Health Service.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive currently has no plans to recruit dentists specifically from Canada.

  Responsibility for recruitment of dentists is a matter for NHS boards and independent dental practitioners who own dental practices. As a non-European Union country, recruits from Canada would be regarded as international applicants. A code of practice for international recruitment of healthcare professionals was published on 30 March 2006. This sets out the principles for recruiting from overseas which all employers are expected to follow.

Dentistry

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how dentists can meet the NHS commitment criteria for earning £50,000 from 500 NHS-registered patients, in light of average item of service fees of £40.10 per adult and £45.20 per child.

Lewis Macdonald: The calculation of gross NHS earnings when determining whether or not a practice is regarded as an NHS committed practice for the payment of certain allowances includes, as well as item of service payments, a number of additional fees, grants and allowances.

Dentistry

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the commitment of part-time dentists, irrespective of whether such commitment to the NHS is part-time.

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its criteria for measuring commitment to NHS dentistry discriminate against dentists who practice part-time in comparison with those who provide part-time NHS services.

Lewis Macdonald: The commitment of a dentist who works part of the week with NHS patients and part of the week in private practice will be measured in the same way as a dentist who works full-time in a mixed practice. A dentist whose income is overwhelmingly from part-time NHS work will be considered as committed to the NHS if he or she signs a declaration to that effect.

Drug Misuse

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes related to illegal drug use or supply have been recorded in each year since 1996.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes related to illegal drug use or supply have been recorded in each year since 1996 and what the average ages of such addicts have been in the same timescale.

Hugh Henry: The information requested on the number of crimes related to illegal drug use is given in table 1 of the Statistical Bulletin Recorded crime in Scotland 2004-05 , published by the Scottish Executive in October 2005 a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37835).

  Data on the ages of the perpetrators of crimes are not held centrally.

Eating Disorders

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many in-patient admissions there have been for eating disorder-related problems in each year since 1999.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many in-patient admissions there were for eating disorder-related problems in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: The available information is given in the following tables.

  Table 1: Acute Hospital (Non-Obstetric, Non Psychiatric) In-Patient and Day Case Discharges 1 with any Diagnosis of Eating Disorder 2 for Years Ending 31 March

  

 NHS Board of Residence
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005


 All areas
 238
 239
 267
 222
 281
 309
 297


 Argyll and Clyde
 19
 14
 25
 13
 18
 11
 20


 Ayrshire and Arran
 19
 23
 15
 22
 22
 27
 9


 Borders
 0
 1
 5
 5
 2
 3
 3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 16
 9
 12
 10
 15
 21
 10


 Fife
 6
 31
 25
 13
 11
 18
 7


 Forth Valley
 10
 14
 11
 17
 10
 12
 8


 Grampian
 36
 38
 17
 17
 32
 51
 39


 Greater Glasgow
 50
 47
 57
 45
 66
 60
 47


 Highland
 12
 12
 21
 14
 24
 11
 28


 Lanarkshire
 17
 10
 16
 10
 16
 18
 25


 Lothian
 34
 29
 52
 42
 44
 63
 83


 Orkney Islands
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1
 0


 Shetland Islands
 0
 0
 1
 1
 4
 0
 2


 Tayside
 15
 6
 5
 9
 15
 11
 15


 Western Isles
 4
 2
 3
 3
 2
 0
 1


 Other 3
 0
 3
 2
 1
 0
 2
 0



  Source: ISD SMR01.

  Notes:

  1. Episodes of care not individual patients (may include multiple episodes for individual patients within period).

  2. A main or any one of up to five supplementary diagnosis of eating disorder.

  Anorexia Nervosa .

  Atypical Anorexia Nervosa .

  Bulimia Nervosa.

  Atypical Bulimia Nervosa.

  Overeating associated with other psychological disturbances.

  Vomiting associated with other psychological disturbances.

  Other eating disorders.

  Eating disorder unspecified.

  3. Not Scotland, no fixed abode or unknown.

  Table 2: Psychiatric Hospital In-Patient Discharges with any Diagnosis1 of Eating Disorder 2 for Years Ending 31 March3

  

 NHS Board of Residence
 1999
 2000
 2001


 All areas
 157
 147
 147


 Argyll and Clyde
 12
 9
 12


 Ayrshire and Arran
 16
 10
 9


 Borders
 1
 2
 2


 Dumfries and Galloway
 4
 6
 3


 Fife
 7
 10
 12


 Forth Valley
 14
 13
 10


 Grampian
 22
 14
 9


 Greater Glasgow
 16
 15
 19


 Highland
 12
 7
 4


 Lanarkshire
 16
 17
 15


 Lothian
 18
 19
 30


 Tayside
 15
 23
 15


 Western Isles
 0
 2
 3


 Other 4
 4
 0
 4



  Source: ISD SMR04.

  Notes:

  1. Episodes of care, not individual patients (may include multiple episodes of care for individual patients within period).

  2. A main or any one of up to five supplementary diagnosis of eating disorder.

  Anorexia Nervosa.

  Atypical Anorexia Nervosa.

  Bulimia Nervosa.

  Atypical Bulimia Nervosa.

  Overeating associated with other psychological disturbances.

  Vomiting associated with other psychological disturbances.

  Other eating disorders.

  Eating disorder unspecified.

  3. Incomplete data submission for later years.

  4. Not Scotland, no fixed abode or unknown.

Eating Disorders

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in Scotland sought treatment for eating disorders outwith Scotland in each year since 1999.

Lewis Macdonald: Data from 1999 to 2003 is not available centrally. The latest available, for 2004-2005, shows eight patients from Scotland received eating disorders treatment in England.

  Information on current and future years referrals will be collected by individual NHS boards.

Eating Disorders

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time is for a patient with an eating disorder to receive (a) an initial assessment, (b) an admission to residential care and (c) care support in each NHS board area.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally. The commitment to publish a National Mental Health Delivery Plan this year will include consideration of how we set targets for mental health services and how we performance manage and measure progress.

Eating Disorders

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what dedicated NHS facilities exist for patients with an eating disorder.

Lewis Macdonald: NHS boards are responsible for planning and providing eating disorder services to meet local needs. A number of NHS boards provide out-patient eating disorders services. In-patient care is organised within mainstream mental health services or under contract from independent providers.

  All NHS regional planning groups are working together to develop appropriate networks and care models for this important care group.

Eating Disorders

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed with an eating disorder in each year since 1999.

Lewis Macdonald: Complete data on the information requested is not available.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25345 on 3 May 2006. The answer provides the available data for in-patient and day case discharges from acute and psychiatric hospitals for those with any diagnosis of eating disorder.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Education

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many placements were made by local authorities in Struan House School, Alloa (a) including and (b) excluding placements in New Struan in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Robert Brown: The number of placements in the school, broken down by local authority, produces figures which are too small to publish under the Executive’s standard procedures. The following table shows the average number of placements over the seven year period. It is not possible to split the figures for the two schools.

  Average Number of Placements for Struan House School and New Struan from 1999 to 2005

  

 
 Average 1999-2005


 Aberdeen City
 -


 Aberdeenshire
 -


 Angus
 -


 Argyll and Bute
 -


 Clackmannanshire
 -


 Dumfries and Galloway
 -


 Dundee City
 -


 East Ayrshire
 -


 East Dunbartonshire
 -


 East Lothian
 -


 East Renfrewshire
 -


 Edinburgh, City of
 4


 Eilean Siar
 -


 Falkirk
 1


 Fife
 2


 Glasgow City
 4


 Highland
 1


 Inverclyde
 -


 Midlothian
 -


 Moray
 -


 North Ayrshire
 2


 North Lanarkshire
 3


 Orkney Islands
 -


 Perth and Kinross
 -


 Renfrewshire
 1


 Scottish Borders
 1


 Shetland Islands
 -


 South Ayrshire
 -


 South Lanarkshire
 3


 Stirling
 3


 West Dunbartonshire
 1


 West Lothian
 3

Education

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils at schools in Edinburgh took an examination in a foreign language and of these how many passed in each year since 2001, broken down by language, expressed also as a percentage of those who sat such exams.

Peter Peacock: A table showing the number of entries and awards in National Qualification courses in foreign languages by pupils in publicly funded schools in Edinburgh 2001-05 has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39449).

Education

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate has been made of the costs associated with the loss of buildings used for educational purposes which have been subjected to wilful fire-raising in each year since 1996.

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many wilful fire-raising attacks on schools have resulted in building losses in excess of £100,000 in each year since 1996.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has made no such estimates. Statistics on the incidence of such fires do not identify the costs associated with them.

Education

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils left schools in Edinburgh with no qualifications in a foreign language in each year since 2001.

Peter Peacock: The following table shows the number and percentage of pupils leaving publicly funded schools in Edinburgh with no qualifications in a foreign language at SCQF level 3 or better 2001-05:

  

 Year
 Number
 Percentage of Leavers


 2001
 885
 28%


 2002
 970
 28%


 2003
 1,039
 28%


 2004
 989
 28%


 2005
 1,036
 32%

Education

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it measures the compliance of education authorities in delivering its policies.

Peter Peacock: Education authorities implement policies taking into account local circumstances. Policies and delivery are subject to regular discussion between the Executive and education authorities, and authorities themselves are regularly inspected by HM Inspectorate of Education.

Education

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that each NHS board provides at least one full-time qualified nurse in each secondary school catchment area.

Lewis Macdonald: Each secondary school should have access to a qualified school nurse. However, the Executive’s policy on the school nursing service reinforces the development of integrated teams which match the appropriate professional skill with the identified health need.

  An integrated workforce planning cycle has been introduced across NHSScotland for all staff groups including nursing. This process adopts an evidence base approach to workforce planning rather than setting specific targets for individual staff groups.

Education

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the recruitment of educational and child psychologists.

Robert Brown: The recruitment of educational psychologists is a matter for local authorities. The Executive, however, ensures a steady and adequate supply of new practitioners by funding the training of educational psychologists. At any one time, 48 trainees are engaged on the two-year course, an increase of over 40% since 2002.

Education

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many educational and child psychologists were recruited by local authorities in each year since 2000.

Robert Brown: This information is not held centrally.

  Figures for full-time equivalent educational psychology posts, and vacant posts, as at 18 February 2005 and broken down by education authority area, were provided in the answer to question S2W-17903 on 17 August 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Employment

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24660 by Mr Tom McCabe on 19 April 2006, why the figures for total private sector employment are different from those referred to in the answers to questions S2W-9099 by Nicol Stephen on 29 July 2005 and S2W-17703 by Mr Jim Wallace on 30 June 2004 and, in light of this difference, which set of figures it considers gives the most accurate account of total private sector employment in each year from 2001 to 2004.

Mr Tom McCabe: Private sector employment is calculated as total employment minus public sector employment. The most accurate measure for public sector employment estimates are taken from the Quarterly Public Sector Employment in Scotland (QPSES) series. Data from the QPSES was used in the answer to question S2W-24660.

  Data referred to in written question’s S2W-9099 and S2W-17703 were based on estimates of public and private sector employment taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS was used for written question S2W-9099 as the QPSES did not exist at the time this written question was answered and was used for written question S2W-17703 as an industry breakdown was requested which cannot be provided using the QPSES.

  All answers to written questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Energy

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the introduction of a plastics-to-fuel scheme for Scotland, similar to the one recently announced for Germany.

Allan Wilson: Techniques that produce fuels in ways that are more environmentally sustainable are to be welcomed. However investment in such commercial operations is a decision for individual companies to make. Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) is the Executive’s main form of financial assistance to industry, helping create and safeguard jobs and encourage investment in the Assisted Areas (AAs) of Scotland. Companies of all sizes and across a wide range of sectors can benefit from RSA provided their projects meet all the RSA scheme criteria.

Fire Safety

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was provided centrally for community fire safety budgets in each of the last five years.

Hugh Henry: The centrally provided community fire safety budget for the last five years is shown in the following table.

  

 Year
 Budget


 2005-06
£759,840


 2004-05
£945,313


 2003-04
£791,526


 2002-03
£800,000


 2001-02
£800,500

Fire Service

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to the firefighters’ pension scheme in each year since 1997.

Hugh Henry: The information is shown in the following table.

  

 Year
£000


 1997-98
 16,635


 1998-99
 20,167


 1999-2000
 21,100


 2000-01
 24,465


 2001-02
 25,000


 2002-03
 26,325


 2003-04
 36,469


 2004-05
 42,469


 2005-06
 46,969

Fire Service

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many firefighters have been retired before their retirement age as a result of ill health or injury in each of the last five financial years.

Hugh Henry: The number of firefighters who have retired due to ill health or injury is shown in the following table.

  

 2000-01
 54


 2001-02
 110


 2002-03
 87


 2003-04
 37


 2004-05
 27



  Source: HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland.

Fire Service

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many firefighters were injured in operational incidents within the fire and rescue service in each of the last 10 years, broken down by service area.

Hugh Henry: The number of firefighters injured in operational incidents is shown in the following table.

  

 
 1995*
 1996*
 1997*
 1998*
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 Central Scotland
 7
 15
 8
 8
 3
 15
 8
 20
 21
 21


 Dumfries and Galloway
 9
 16
 0
 4
 9
 16
 13
 11
 8
 2


 Fife
 26
 28
 14
 7
 26
 28
 26
 24
 26
 23


 Grampian
 27
 26
 8
 4
 27
 26
 32
 19
 23
 20


 Highlands and Islands
 2
 3
 1
 8
 8
 22
 13
 22
 12
 13


 Lothian and Borders
 12
 15
 8
 8
 103
 15
 86
 93
 102
 99


 Strathclyde
 105
 165
 15
 3
 105
 165
 88
 130
 166
 157


 Tayside
 41
 49
 11
 8
 41
 49
 43
 31
 37
 26



  Source: HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland.

  Note: *1995-98 years figures represent injuries which resulted in an absence from work of two weeks or more only.

Fire Service

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) incidents and (b) fires were attended by each fire and rescue service in each of the last 10 years.

Hugh Henry: The number of fires and incidents attended by the fire and rescue services is shown in the following tables.

  Incidents

  

 
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


 Central Scotland
 335
 672
 332
 401
 372
 358
 366
 440
 388
 520


 Dumfries and Galloway
 281
 384
 257
 216
 382
 386
 306
 277
 269
 260


 Fife
 710
 553
 710
 628
 618
 651
 700
 612
 618
 722


 Grampian
 755
 1805
 913
 1100
 806
 1149
 1031
 1351
 1109
 1057


 Highlands and Islands
 349
 446
 426
 450
 471
 534
 547
 683
 683
 749


 Lothian and Borders
 1138
 1555
 1488
 1590
 1571
 2066
 1892
 1820
 1642
 1586


 Strathclyde
 4297
 5796
 4149
 4177
 5018
 4743
 4837
 4031
 3960
 3729


 Tayside
 580
 1130
 663
 677
 758
 819
 888
 930
 791
 954



  Fires (000)

  

 
 1995
 1996
 1997
 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 Central Scotland
 2.3
 2.2
 1.8
 1.8
 2.0
 2.3
 2.7
 2.5
 3.1
 2.3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1.2
 1.2
 1.0
 1.0
 1.0
 1.0
 1.0
 1.0
 1.1
 0.9


 Fife
 3.5
 3.3
 2.7
 2.7
 3.0
 3.1
 3.2
 3.0
 4.2
 3.2


 Grampian
 4.0
 4.2
 3.8
 3.5
 3.9
 3.7
 3.8
 3.9
 4.9
 3.2


 Highlands and Islands
 3.4
 3.6
 2.6
 2.4
 2.3
 2.3
 2.8
 2.3
 2.7
 1.7


 Lothian and Borders
 10.0
 9.5
 8.0
 7.0
 9.2
 9.2
 9.9
 9.3
 11.5
 7.8


 Strathclyde
 31.0
 33.0
 26.0
 23.3
 26.8
 29.6
 31.1
 26.4
 33.5
 24.6


 Tayside
 5.1
 5.0
 4.3
 3.6
 4.2
 4.5
 4.7
 4.2
 4.6
 3.2



  Source incidents: HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland.

  Source fires: Fire Statistics United Kingdom Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Fire Service

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls were made to each fire and rescue service in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Hugh Henry: The number of calls made to the fire and rescue services are shown in the following table.

  

 
 1995
 1996
 1997
 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 Central Scotland
 6,093
 4,977
 4,949
 4,962
 5,107
 5,444
 10,678
 10,244
 12,559
 9,206


 Dumfries and Galloway
 3,165
 2,719
 7,039
 8,576
 2,656
 3,110
 3,397
 3,063
 3,369
 3,018


 Fife
 14,657
 17,572
 13,125
 12,632
 14,515
 14,033
 14,420
 15,782
 16,132
 14029


 Grampian
 13,637
 12,168
 12,422
 10,788
 11,984
 14,157
 15,099
 16,250
 18,257
 14,050


 Highlands and Islands
 8,481
 8,700
 7,545
 7,784
 8,002
 7,201
 7,052
 7,729
 7,568
 6,581


 Lothian and Borders
 31,267
 28,659
 27,815
 26,193
 30,800
 33,816
 36,632
 33,134
 36,732
 34,564


 Strathclyde
 77,002
 65,942
 61,507
 60,338
 62,735
 64,584
 101,896
 97,660
 105,590
 903,26


 Tayside
 19,846
 14,691
 13,440
 12,559
 14,206
 14,145
 15,292
 13,854
 15,245
 12,817



  Source: HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland.

Football

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current status is of the Scottish Football Partnership.

Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Football Partnership (SFP) is now operational with James Clydesdale having taken up post as Chairman on 21 February 2006. The majority of its funding is earmarked for the Youth Football Action Plan and some is set aside for the Community Youth Awards and a Club Licensing Scheme which are currently being developed. The SFP is also considering how best to use the remaining funds to make the biggest impact on football. The SFP is not accepting any applications until it has agreed its programmes and finalised current initiatives.

Foster Care

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of public funds allocated to finance foster care placements has been spent on (a) local authority and (b) independent or private sector placements in each of the last five years.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children placed in foster care in each of the last five years have been in (a) local authority and (b) independent or private sector placements.

Robert Brown: This information is not held centrally.

Foster Care

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a uniform child allowance to all foster carers; whether there is any legal impediment to paying such an allowance to kinship carers, and how the level of any national allowance would be determined.

Robert Brown: The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on Monday 27 March, contains a power for ministers to create a national system of fostering allowances. The details of such a scheme would be contained in regulations, which would be the subject of consultation.

Foster Care

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been placed with foster carers in each of the last five years where three or more children are involved in such placements and whether there are any plans to place a statutory limit on the number of children placed with each foster care household.

Robert Brown: Information on numbers of children in each foster placement is not held centrally. There are currently no plans to introduce a statutory limit.

Foster Care

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered foster carers there are and how many additional foster care households are required, broken down by local authority area, and what plans are in place to recruit more foster carers.

Robert Brown: We have received the following information from local authorities on the numbers of foster carers in their areas in 2005, and their assessment of the shortfall.

  

 Local Authority
 Number of Foster Carers
 Shortfall of Foster Carers


 Aberdeen City Council
 86
 100


 Aberdeenshire Council
 99
 55


 Angus Council
 51
 14


 Argyll and Bute Council
 33
 22


 Clackmannanshire Council
 30
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway Council
 78
 5


 Dundee City Council
 78
 40


 East Ayrshire Council
 29
 14


 East Dunbartonshire Council
 18
 14


 East Lothian Council
 58
 8


 East Renfrewshire Council
 7
 10


 Edinburgh, City of 
 280
 50


 Eilean Siar
 17
 6


 Fife Council
 153
 10


 Falkirk Council
 53
 76


 Glasgow City Council
 372
 100


 Highland
 112
 27


 Inverclyde
 26
 6


 Midlothian
 40
 10


 Moray Council
 55
 29


 North Ayrshire Council
 53
 28


 North Lanarkshire
 48
 12


 Orkney Islands Council
 8
 3


 Perth and Kinross
 45
 16


 Renfrewshire Council
 40
 75


 Scottish Borders Council
 38
 9


 Shetland Council
 17
 3


 South Ayrshire
 43
 6


 South Lanarkshire
 32
 16


 Stirling Council
 49
 10


 West Dunbartonshire Council
 25
 12


 West Lothian
 67
 18


 Total 
 2,140
 804



  We have allocated £12 million extra funding to local authorities over the period 2005-07 to enable them to improve recruitment and retention of foster carers and to increase placement choice.

Foster Care

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what registration process exists to ensure that all foster carers are properly trained and accredited and how this compares with the registration process for those employed in residential children's homes.

Robert Brown: There is no registration process for foster carers. The approval, training and accreditation of foster carers is a matter for fostering service providers, which are inspected against national care standards by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care.

Foster Care

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any legal impediments based on sexual orientation preventing individuals from becoming foster carers and, if so, what the reasons are for such impediments.

Robert Brown: The Fostering of Children (Scotland) Regulations 1996 prohibit a person to foster where there is in the household a person of the same sex other than a relative who will not be concerned with the care of the child. These regulations were designed to prevent the fostering of children by gay and lesbian couples. We have indicated our intention to remove this restriction in Secure and Safe Homes for Our Most Vulnerable Children , our response to the Adoption Policy Review Group’s Report of Phase II.

Housing

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what factors were taken into account in determining the changes in private sector housing grant to individual local authorities from 2005-06 to 2006-07.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The main factor in determining the change in Private Sector Housing Grant (PSHG) to local authorities in 2006-07 is the reduction in the level of resources available for this purpose. Councils were informed that the level of resources available for PSHG in 2005-06 (and 2004-05) was exceptional resulting from underspends elsewhere.

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24697 by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 April 2006, whether it made representations in its own submission to HM Treasury on planning gain supplement (PGS) that affordable housing developments should be exempt from the proposed PGS and, if not, whether it will now do so.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have raised the issue of exemptions to planning-gain supplement in discussions with the UK Government and understand other organisations have done so too as part of the consultation. We note and endorse the UK Government’s position that any planning-gain supplement should support efforts to expand housing supply.

NHS Funding

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of recent announcements that the Western Isles NHS Board will seek to address part of its £2.8 million debt by freezing staff vacancies, what posts will be frozen.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number and grades of staff to be employed by NHS Western Isles are entirely matters for the board. The board has settled on a financial recovery plan which covers several elements to ensure a return to financial balance as rapidly as possible.

  I understand that the board does not intend any reduction in patient services.

Older People

Mr Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the extent of elder abuse is and what steps it is taking to tackle the issue.

Lewis Macdonald: There have been no recent prevalence studies undertaken in the UK on elder abuse, although Age Concern Scotland estimate that between 7% and 9% of older people in Scotland are victims of at least one form of abuse, with over 40% of victims suffering more than one kind of abuse. Comic Relief is currently undertaking a UK-wide study which is due to report in 2007.

  The Executive recognises that elder abuse is a serious problem which can too often remain hidden and it is determined that the abuse of adults, whether at risk through ageing or disability, will not be tolerated. We continue to provide financial support to Age Concern Scotland’s Elder Abuse project to assist its efforts to tackle abuse.

  In addition, on 30 March 2006, the Executive introduced the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Bill. The bill will put in place modern and strengthened measures to afford greater protection for those adults in Scotland who are at risk from abuse. It will improve and enhance protective measures for these adults and will also, in turn, improve inter-agency co-operation and enhance preventative action.

  A copy of the draft bill and the accompanying documents can be found on the Scottish Parliament’s website at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/62-adultSupport/index.htm.

Olympic Games

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Victorian Olympic Council regarding the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Olympic Games taking place in Melbourne in November 2006.

Patricia Ferguson: None. The Victorian Olympic Council (VOC) has been in direct contact with the National Olympic Committees. In the case of British Olympians, the VOC has been dealing with the British Olympians Club (associated with and representing the interests of the British Olympic Association).

Police

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police hours have been freed up so far as a result of the operation of the Reliance contract.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables.

Regeneration

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Communities was first approached to perform the opening ceremony for the Back O’Hill Road, Stirling, which he carried out on 27 March 2006.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Minister for Communities received an invitation from Councillor John Hendry, Stirling Council, to open the Back O’ Hill Road (Stirling Western Access Road) on 27 January 2006.

Regeneration

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much grant aid Stirling Council has received so far for the Raploch regeneration scheme and what proportion of that grant aid was for the realignment of the Back O’Hill Road.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has provided grant funding of £4.5 million to Stirling Council to fund early infrastructure works associated with the Raploch Regeneration Project, £1.6 million of this has been used to fund the cost of works and fees associated with the realignment of the Back O’Hill Road.

Regeneration

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to suspend all further investment in the Raploch regeneration project until such time as it is satisfied that Stirling Council and Raploch Urban Regeneration Company Ltd (URC) have properly costed and assessed all the risks involved in this project.

Malcolm Chisholm: Decisions on future grant funding for the Raploch regeneration project will be taken following a detailed appraisal of Raploch URC’s final business plan, which is due to be submitted to the Executive in July 2006. That appraisal will look at all key risks associated with the project.

Regeneration

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to advise local traders affected by closure of the Back O’Hill Road, Stirling, of their rights of appeal against the rateable value of their properties under the provisions of the Lands Valuation (Scotland) Acts in respect of a material change of circumstance.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has no direct role in this. Stirling Council is responsible for the decision to close the road and for advising local traders of their rights of appeal. The Assessor for Central Scotland is responsible for considering appeals against rateable values.

School Transport

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities require enhanced Disclosure Scotland checks on drivers transporting children to school by (a) bus, (b) minibus, (c) taxi, (d) private hire and (e) parental contacts, as referred to in recommendation 4 of A review of school transport contracts in Scotland by the Scottish Consumer Council.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities which require enhanced Disclosure Scotland checks on drivers transporting children to school apply (a) uniform criteria for assessment of suitability and (b) standardised procedures in respect of such checks.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities which require enhanced Disclosure Scotland checks on drivers transporting children to school apply standardised appeal procedures in respect of such checks.

Peter Peacock: This is a matter for the local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

  Since the publication of the report of the Scottish Consumer Council’s review I have made clear my endorsement of the recommendations addressed to local authorities regarding school transport contracts.

Scottish Arts Council

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, given that the BBC has a memorandum of understanding with the Arts Council England, it will take steps to ensure that a similar memorandum is in place for the Scottish Arts Council.

Patricia Ferguson: The BBC is a key actor in the delivery of public service broadcasting, which can play a significant role both in developing the creative industries and in supporting cultural activity. Although broadcasting is a reserved matter, the BBC is engaged in a regular dialogue with the Executive, Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council. The Scottish Arts Council has recently met with the BBC to explore ways in which BBC Scotland might be able to work more closely with arts organisations in Scotland.

  Building on the experience of Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council hitherto, I shall expect Creative Scotland to work with the BBC and other broadcasters in pursuit of their shared objectives. It will be for the organisations concerned to consider whether a formal Memorandum of Understanding would be helpful in setting a framework for their future collaboration.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any member of Scottish Criminal Record Office staff, past or present, has at any time made the Crown Office or the Lord Advocate aware of any concerns regarding any fingerprint identifications which they considered might have led to a miscarriage of justice if the evidence had been prepared or submitted.

Colin Boyd QC: No central record of such matters is held. However, I refer to the member to the answer to question S2W-23612 on 20 April 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Sport

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it offers to Scottish athletes.

Patricia Ferguson: There are a number of programmes in place to provide financial and other support to help Scotland’s talented and emerging athletes train and prepare for international competitions. This support is available to those who the relevant sport’s governing body are satisfied have demonstrated the potential to win medals or equivalent, on the international stage.

  The programmes from which our talented athletes can benefit are: Athlete Support; the Scottish Institute of Sport and the Area Institute Network, and the World Class Performance Programme.

Sport

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the proposals of the Campaign for a Scottish Olympic Team.

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive has considered the proposals of the Campaign for a Scottish Olympic Team and our position on the aims of the campaign is clear and remains unchanged.

Tourism

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many VisitScotland regional offices are in operation; where they are located; what areas they cover, and what their responsibilities are.

Patricia Ferguson: There are 14 VisitScotland network offices located throughout Scotland as shown in the following table:

  

 Network Office
 Location
 Local Authority Area


 Aberdeen and Grampian
 Aberdeen
 Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Moray


 Dumfries and Galloway
 Dumfries
 Dumfries and Galloway


 Angus and Dundee
 Dundee
 City of Dundee; Angus


 Edinburgh and Lothians
 Edinburgh
 City of Edinburgh; East Lothian; West Lothian; Midlothian


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley
 Glasgow
 City of Glasgow; East Dunbartonshire; Inverclyde; Renfrewshire; East Renfrewshire; North Lanarkshire; South Lanarkshire


 Orkney
 Kirkwall
 Orkney


 Shetland
 Lerwick
 Shetland


 Fife
 Markinch
 Fife


 Perth
 Perth
 Perth and Kinross


 Ayrshire and Arran
 Prestwick
 East Ayrshire; North Ayrshire; South Ayrshire


 Borders
 Selkirk
 Borders


 Argyll, Loch Lomond, Forth Valley 
 Stirling
 Argyll; Clackmannan; Falkirk; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire 


 Outer Hebrides
 Stornoway
 Western Isles


 Highland
 Strathpeffer
 Highland



  This network of VisitScotland offices represents the organisation, in all the activities it provides, at a local level. These offices work towards achieving tourism objectives at that level, while ensuring that this work is linked to the vision and strategies for tourism at a national level. This is achieved through the development of strong partnerships with local businesses, local authorities, and local enterprise companies. In addition, the 122 tourist information offices are managed by the VisitScotland network offices.

  In addition, VisitScotland also operates a visitor centre and office in London, which provides an information and booking service for accommodation and tours in Scotland. The London office also plays an important part in VisitScotland’s marketing, business tourism and public relations activities. It maintains close links with other public sector partners as well as being the main point of contact for VisitBritain and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Tourism

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the lack of a publicly-funded mountain weather forecast for outdoor users in Scotland freely available on the internet, given that the Welsh Assembly Government, the Sports Council for Wales and the Wales Tourist Board provide such a service for Wales.

Patricia Ferguson: On 28 April the Met Office will be replacing the phone or fax mountain weather forecast service currently available by a two-day forecast which will be available free of charge via the internet.

  The Executive has received a report from the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and is currently considering a funding proposal for a more detailed mountain weather forecast service covering Scotland’s five main climbing areas: Glen Coe; Lochaber; Creag Meagaidh; Northern Cairngorms, and Southern Cairngorms.

Vaccinations

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24316 by Lewis Macdonald on 27 March 2006 indicating that only one research project has been funded by the Medical Research Council into a link between MMR and autism, what its position is on the employment of a paid consultant to the MMR manufacturers in a central authorship role in this research project and whether this amounts to a conflict of interest which would undermine the project’s conclusions.

Lewis Macdonald: The Medical Research Council is an independent funding body, the responsibility for which is reserved to Westminster. For these reasons, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the research they decide to fund. Many medical and other researchers have links to industry which wants to make use of their expertise. This has to be managed to ensure the quality and objectivity of the research undertaken, through the process of independent peer review.

  In relation to the specific study in question, it should be noted that the results are consistent with a number of other studies using different approaches and datasets which have similarly concluded that MMR immunisation is not linked to the development of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Young People

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been employed as youth workers in each year since 1996, broken down by local authority or agency.

Robert Brown: This information is not held centrally.